Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images The Spurs can defend again, Harrison Barnes has been a steal, and Mitch Johnson is an NBA coach. By halftime tonight, a quarter of the Spurs’ 2024-25 regular season (yes, we can use the distinction again!) will have passed, and they continue to show they are a new team. With an 11-9 record after 20 games (tying their best start since 2017-18), the Spurs are 8 games ahead of last season, when they were reeling in the midst of an 18-game losing streak and did not reach 11 wins until their lone win of the Rodeo Road Trip in Toronto on February 12. (A game that coincidently featured my favorite play of the season — I’ll use any excuse to rehash it.) Because this team continues to show us new things and be so intriguing, I thought we could revisit observations from the first 10 games, as well as look at some new ones from the last 10. Revisiting the first 10 games Looking back at observations from their first 10 games, the mood has shifted a bit from then to now. While the Spurs sat at 4-6 — admittedly within expectation based on the schedule — there was still an aura of disappointment at that moment considering they had just lost 3 of 4 games, including a blowing a 26-point lead to the Clippers and losing to the lowly Jazz at home. Not to mention, injuries were piling up. Two points from then remain true 22 days later: the Spurs offense benefits greatly when Chris Paul looks for his own shot, and Stephon Castle is looking like the real deal, but the other two could use a quick revisit. First, it was looking like the Spurs may not sport a complete roster until 2025, and while that could still end up being true depending on Tre Jones’ shoulder sprain, the Spurs now have Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan back (if not today, then very soon), which is as close to complete as they’ve been all season, and both bring yet another boost to an already surging team. The other point to revisit is concern about Victor Wembanyama’s shot selection. At the time, we pointed out that he was taking over 7 threes per game — on pace to set a franchise record for attempts in a season by a landslide — while hitting them at just a 28% rate with questionable shot selection. Since then, while his attempts have increased even more to 12.3 per game in the last 10 games, he’s taking them more within the flow of the offense and shooting 40.7%, bringing his season averages up to 35% on 9.2 attempts. I would still like to see him establish a low post game a bit more, but you can’t argue too much if he keeps hitting them at this rate. Now, here are some new observations. The Spurs are a good defensive team again To get right to the point: the Spurs no longer suck on defense. In fact, they’re pretty good. Despite having the runner-up Defensive Player of the Year in Wemby last season, the Spurs were a bad defensive team, no ifs, ands or buts about it. While they made a bit of a leap to the lower 20’s in defensive rating by the end of the season, they spent much of it towards the very bottom, and it showed as they blew double-digit lead after double-digit lead when the offense hit an inevitable lull. Now, thanks to some new faces and internal growth, the Spurs are an above average defensive team again, currently sitting at 13th in the league in defensive rating. This has helped make up for their slightly below average (but improving) offense, and the fears that they will blow huge leads have subsided. To that end, another change from last year is they have become a second-half team, eliminating their infamous “turd quarters” and actually outscoring their opponents in the second half. Offense comes and goes, but defense is forever, and that foundation is needed to build a winning team. Harrison Barnes has been a steal for the Spurs We gave Paul and Castle some much deserved praise last time, so now it’s Harrison Barnes’ turn. Perhaps the most overlooked of the Spurs’ three new players this season, Barnes was accquired as part of the trade that sent DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento. The Spurs didn’t have to give anything up to absorb him into their cap space, and they even received the right to swap 2031 draft picks with the Kings for their troubles (who by the way are struggling right now). He seemed like a nice addition who would bring some veteran leadership and three-point shooting at the time, but he has been so much more than that, to the point that it’s hard to visualize removing him from the starting lineup as the Spurs return to full health. He’s not shooting a ton of threes but is hitting them at a very efficient 46.2% rate, and he keeps the offense from stagnating with his off-ball movement. He also hasn’t been a sieve on defense like some feared and helped the Spurs traverse a bout of injuries, including to Wemby, with a Western Conference Player of the Week performance. Jacob Douglas dove much deeper into Barnes last week, so be sure to go check that out, but suffice it to say, the Spurs may have fleeced yet another team with an underrated trade. Mitch Johnson is an NBA head coach Last but not least, props must be given to interim head coach Mitch Johnson. While it was announced a few weeks ago that the health scare that has kept Gregg Popovich out since November 2 was a minor stroke and he is currently undergoing rehabilitation, Johnson has filled in admirably for his boss. While not as bombastic Pop, he still has the same hard-nosed approach. He’s not afraid to coach his players, call angry timeouts when they mess up, or tell the media when he’s not happy with a performance. He also hasn’t been afraid to tighten the rotation when needed or open it up when the matchup or other reasons call for it, such as playing Sandro Mamukelashvili when the Spurs need a spark or giving Charles Bassey a shot at backup center. Of course, Johnson is still learning, and none of this is to say Pop should retire and hand over the reins now — his goal remains to return — but this could put Johnson on an inside track to succeed the GOAT coach when he does call it quits. While we’ve said that about many assistant coaches over the years, and there will likely still be a process when the time comes, Johnson is certainly giving himself an inside advantage. That is of course, if someone doesn’t come snatch him first.